7i 


GIFT   OF 
Mr.   Farold   L>   Leup-n 


Choosing  Books 

A  LECTURE  BY  GEORGElILES. 
Hackley  School,  Tanytown,  N.  Y.,  April  5,  1917. 


(Reprinted from  "The Hackley,"  May.  1917) 


HACKLEY   SCHOOL, 

TARRYTOWN.  N.  Y. 

1917 


VK 


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on 


^  ^.  /.  ^^- 


A  Lecture  by  George  lies  to  Hockley  School,  April  5,1917. 

When  first  I  went  to  school,  a  good  many  years  ago,  an  older 
boy  told  me  that  "Robinson  Crusoe"  was  the  best  book  he  had 
ever  read.  That  winter  he  lent  me  the  volume,  and  I  felt  sorely 
grieved  when  my  father  said  that  the  work  was  mere  fiction,  that 
there  had  never  been  any  real  Crusoe  or  his  man  Friday.  Soon 
afterward  another  schoolmate  lent  me  Dana's  'Two  Years  Before 
the  Mast,"  but  its  truth  did  not  stir  me  as  did  the  marvellously 
invented  chapters  of  Defoe.  And  so  my  reading  went  on  month 
by  month,  year  by  year.  As  one  of  the  youngest  boys  in  our 
class,  I  listened  to  what  other  boys  said  about  books  really  worth 
while.  And  thus,  without  planning  it  at  all,  I  began  to  depend 
upon  better  informed  folk  than  myself  in  choosing  my  books,  and 
that  practice  became  a  habit  useful  to  me  ever  since.  To  be  sure, 
my  first  counsellors  in  the  school-yard  varied  a  good  deal  in 
knowledge  and  in  soundness  of  judgment.  I  can  remember  a 
dozen  paltry  romances,  imitated  from  Cooper,  that  swept  through 
our  school  in  a  whirlwind  of  popularity,  forerunning  the  Harka- 
way  series  of  a  later  day.  And  yet,  in  the  main,  so  sensible  was 
the  pilotage  I  enjoyed,  that  by  the  time  I  was  fourteen  or  so  I  had 
read  Scott's  "Guy  Mannering"  and  "Quentin  Durward";  Haw- 
thorne's "House  of  the  Seven  Gables";  Cooper's  "Last  of  the 
Mohicans";  Dickens'  "Oliver  Twist"  and  "David  Copperfield"; 
Thackeray's  "Henry  Esmond" ;  and  that  capital  story  of  whaling 
adventure,  "Moby  Dick,"  by  Herman  Melville.  Even  in  those 
distant  days  it  was  plain  that  boys  find  interest  in  the  shelves 
of  grown-up  folk.  Indeed  many  of  the  books  written  for  boys, 
such  as  the  Henty  series,  have  a  distinct  flavor  of  milk  and  water, 
with  a  good  deal  more  water  than  milk.  Incomparably  better  are 
the  novels  of  Scott  and  Cooper,  Stevenson  and  Kipling,  as  keenly 
relished  by  manly  boys  as  by  men  who  continue  to  be  boys  as 
long  as  they  live. 

As  the  years  of  youth  followed  one  another,  my  range  in 
fiction  grew  constantly  a  little  wider.  Where  an  author,  as  Walter 
Scott,  attracted  me  forcefully,  I  took  up  every  book  of  his  that 
I  could  lay  my  hands  on.  I^F|i!@@@9@"^i^^^^c^s  were  added. 


'-'  '^'*The  Wardetx"  ef  Anthony  Trollope  opened  the  door  to  his  Bar- 
chester  series,  which  I  could  now  reread  with  pleasure.  In  due 
time  I  came  to  Alexandre  Dumas  and  Victor  Hugo.  I  hope  this 
year  to  find  time  to  take  up  once  more  "The  Three  Musketeers" 
and  ''The  Toilers  of  the  Sea."  But  after  all  novels  are  simply 
the  dessert  of  literature,  and  my  shelves  began  to  show  a  few 
biographies  and  histories,  three  or  four  treatises  of  science,  with 
a  little  travel  and  exploration  by  way  of  change  and  refreshment. 
In  gathering  these  more  solid  books  I  drew  upon  the  information 
and  good  sense  of  men  who  knew  literature  by  study,  by  com- 
parison, by  tests  in  teaching,  and  in  writing  for  the  press.  Qne 
of  my  advisers  was  a  librarian  of  rare  judgment  and  untiring 
good  will.  I  recall  him  today  with  a  grateful  heart.  His  library 
would  be  deemed  a  small  and  poor  collection  in  these  times,  but  its 
contents  were  well  chosen,  and  my  old  friend  was  a  tactful 
adapter  of  books  to  readers.  He  was  rewarded  by  seeing  that 
when  lads  become  familiar  with  the  best  writing  they  are  im- 
patient with  any  other.  Nobody  who  moves  in  Fifth  Avenue 
society  cares  to  cultivate  comrades  on  the  Bowery  or  Fourteenth 
Street. 

An  early  discovery  in  our  little  northern  library  astonished 
me.  As  a  boy  I  had  looked  upon  history  and  applied  science  witb 
mingled  awe  and  dislike.  Books  in  those  fields  might  do  for 
lawyers  and  doctors,  clergymen  and  bank  cashiers,  but  for  boys, 
no !  I  found,  to  my  delight,  that  Macaulay  and  Parkman,  Tyndall, 
Huxley  and  Bagehot  were  every  whit  as  interesting  as  Hawthorne 
and  Poe.  And  there  was,  besides,  the  feeling  that  truth  is  truth, 
while  fiction  is  but  its  shadow.  It  was  with  quickened  pulse  that  I 
read  the  lives  of  James  Watt,  of  George  Stephenson,  and  of  Charles 
Goodyear.  Long  before  I  was  twenty,  the  great  inventors  and 
discoverers  were  my  heroes,  and  my  heroes  they  have  remained. 
When  first  I  came  under  their  spell  my  old  friend,  the  librarian, 
remarked  that  I  was  reading  nothing  but  invention  and  discovery. 
He  did  me  a  good  service  as  he  recommended  ''a  balanced  ration" 
in  my  books.  I  have  never  forgotten  that  counsel.  In  class-room 
at  school  or  college,  chemistry  may  follow  upon  history,  and  com- 
position upon  either  Latin  or  algebra,  by  turns  giving  exercise 
and  rest  to  widely  different  faculties  of  one's  brain.  There  is  like 
profit  in  keeping  together  on  one's  table  John  Burroughs  and 
Francis  Parkman,  William  James  and  John  Muir.     King  David 


never  was  wiser  than  when  he  exclaimed,  "0  sing  unto  the  Lord 
a  neiv  song !"  In  maintaining  a  due  diversity  in  one's  reading  it 
is  well  to  consult  a  librarian  of  experience.  He  knows  which  are 
the  best  books  in  each  department,  and  a  tour  of  every  alcove  may 
discover  in  a  young  reader  tastes  for  the  drama,  for  bird-lore,  or 
aught  else,  which  until  then  lay  dormant  in  his  brain.  A  librarian, 
too,  learns  more  than  anybody  else  regarding  the  new  books  of 
merit  which  constantly  teem  from  the  press.  He  hears  comments 
from  the  best  read  men  and  women  in  his  town  or  city ;  he  weighs 
and  compares  the  leading  reviews  of  books  as  they  appear  in 
such  a  journal  as  the  New  York  Nation;  and  he  is  usually  able 
to  hand  you  the  books  he  names,  often  with  opportunities  for  com- 
paring two  or  three  with  one  another.  A  museum  of  natural  his- 
tory, a  botanical  garden,  an  aquarium,  an  art  gallery,  even  a 
cotton-mill,  takes  on  new  meaning  and  fresh  allurement  when  one 
has  a  thoroughly  informed  guide  who  wishes  his  visitors  to  share 
his  knowledge  and  enthusiasm.  What  has  taken  him  years  to  learn 
may  be  focussed  into  a  single  perambulation.  So  also  when  a 
good  library  has  its  treasures  unfolded  by  a  custodian  of  mark. 
He  may  display  a  gallery  of  Indian  chiefs  and  medicine-men,  such 
as  those  pictured  by  Mr.  Edward  S.  Curtis.  Or,  he  opens  a 
superb  collection  of  ballads,  such  as  that  of  the  late  Professor 
Child  of  Harvard.  Or  he  may  show  us  a  portfolio  of  wildflowers, 
aglow  with  every  tint  of  summer ;  and  there  and  then  an  interest 
is  planted  to  yield  harvests  of  cheer  as  long  as  we  live.  Indeed, 
in  the  field  of  literature,  as  in  every  other  field  of  life,  our  success 
will  largely  turn  upon  our  choice  of  guides  and  advisers.  Every 
large  modern  business  proceeds  step  by  step  as  its  chieftains,  whc 
may  be  engineers,  mechanics,  chemists,  physicists,  builders  or 
salesmen,  take  full  counsel  with  one  another.  In  the  high  and 
thorny  road  of  citizenship  our  duty  is  often  pivoted  upon  the  care- 
ful choice  of  leaders,  whom  we  exchange  for  better  leaders — if, 
happily,  these  are  to  be  found. 

When  men  distinguished  for  knowledge,  ability,  and  wisdom 
are  unanimous,  we  bow  to  their  decisions.  One  such  verdict  is 
that  the  Bible  and  Shakespeare  are  so  supreme  in  merit,  have  so 
profoundly  colored  human  history,  that  they  should  be  read  by 
one's  twenty-first  birthday  and  studied  as  long  as  we  live.  With 
regard  to  these  golden  books  there  may  be  reluctance.  Here  it  is 
well  to  take  advantage  of  occasions.     Suppose  we  see  Shakes- 


peare's  ''Henry  VIII,"  what  time  more  fitting  to  read  that  play, 
and  then  pass  to  a  much  greater  work,  ''Henry  IV"?  Then  may 
follow  "Hamlet,"  "Macbeth,"  "Othello"  and  the  other  chief  crea- 
tions of  our  first  dramatist.  With  respect  to  the  Bible  allow  me 
to  repeat  what  can  never  be  said  too  often :  it  is  incomparably  the 
richest  literary  heritage  of  our  race.  In  Isaiah,  in  the  Psalms,  in 
the  Gospels,  in  the  letters  of  Saint  Paul,  are  the  master  tones  of 
human  eloquence.  One  cause  of  the  primacy  of  English  literature 
is  the  familiarity  of  English-speaking  nations  with  their  Scrip- 
tures. And  how  wide  the  gulf  between  the  Bible  itself  and  the  best 
writing  by  its  students!  John  Bunyan  has  given  us  our  only 
allegory  of  human  life.  It  holds  but  one  parable,  that  of  the  man 
with  the  muckrake,  worthy  to  be  read  on  the  same  day  with  "The 
Ninety  and  Nine,"  "The  Sower,"  and  "The  Prodigal  Son."  When 
you  get  a  Bible  take  the  trouble  to  find  an  edition  which  includes 
The  Apochrypha.  Its  books,  as  remarkable  as  those  of  the  Old 
Testament,  have  fallen  into  unmerited  neglect.  Ecclesiasticus  and 
The  Wisdom  of  Solomon  are  on  the  same  high  plane  as  the  Book 
of  Proverbs. 

If  interest  in  Shakespeare  may  be  stimulated  by  witnessing 
one  of  his  plays,  interest  in  other  books  may  be  sown  as  we  observe 
the  anniversaries  of  history,  year  by  year.  Lincoln  Day  has  in- 
cited many  a  young  reader  to  take  up  a  brief  biography  of  the 
martyred  President.  For  reference,  the  ten  volumes  by  his  sec- 
retaries. Hay  and  Nicolay,  are  indispensable.  A  single  volume 
has  been  condensed  from  this  series  of  ten  books.  Not  only  his- 
torical dates,  but  historical  places,  have  their  incitements  for  us. 
One  of  the  glories  of  American  literature  is  Washington  Irving. 
Where  may  we  read  "The  Sketchbook"  with  more  zest  than  at 
Tarrytown,  the  home  of  Irving,  and  still  the  home  of  his  kindred, 
two  of  whom  have  attended  Hackley  School?  When  the  leaves, 
all  too  few,  of  "The  Sketchbook"  have  been  turned,  "Bracebridge 
Hall"  may  come  next,  then  "The  Conquest  of  Granada,"  and,  if 
time  permits,  the  Life  of  the  author  himself,  which  includes  his 
matchless  letters,  recounting  his  friendships  with  Walter  Scott 
and  other  illustrious  men.  And  in  such  eventful  days  as  those 
through  which  we  are  now  passing,  biography  and  history  receive 
new  and  striking  additions  every  twenty-four  hours.  Often  the 
recital  of  a  great  battle,  such  as  that  of  the  Marne;  of  such  an 
overturn  as  that  of  the  Russian  autocracy,  leads  us  into  a  book 


alcove  we  had  never  entered  before.  Several  leading  public 
libraries  spread  on  their  bulletin  boards  the  chief  occurrences  of 
each  passing  week,  at  home  and  abroad,  naming  such  of  their 
books,  reports,  and  articles  as  cast  light  upon  them.  Thus  value 
is  conferred  upon  many  a  tome  which  otherwise  would  sleep  in 
unbroken  rest.  Much  of  the  best  writing  on  the  European  war 
has  appeared  in  magazines.  None  of  this  work  is  more  worthy 
of  study  than  the  proposals  by  Dr.  Charles  W.  Eliot  and  others, 
to  assure  a  permanent  peace  when  this  conflict  comes  to  an  end. 
Only  in  a  public  library,  amply  equipped,  thoroughly  indexed  and 
catalogued,  may  we  follow  this  momentous  discussion. 

Librarians  tell  us  that  while  the  demand  for  biography  and 
history  is  increasing,  poetry  is  seldom  asked  for,  despite  the 
charm  of  modern  verse,  and  its  intimate  reflection  of  modem 
life.  One  reason  is  that  poetry  is  bought  rather  than  borrowed  . 
from  libraries,  like  fiction.  Another  reason  is  that,  as  a  rule, 
poets  write  too  much,  and  offer  us  their  gems,  as  the  stars  m 
heaven,  decidedly  far  apart.  Here  anthologies  proifer  us  both 
chart  and  compass.  At  the  outset  of  one's  reading  it  is  not  feasible 
even  if  it  were  desirable,  to  know  the  great  poets  from  lid  to  lid. 
The  anthologies  edited  by  Dana  and  by  Bryant,  though  somewhat 
time-worn,  are  still  worth  having.  Small  and  recent  collections, 
which  may  tempt  the  timid  beginner,  have  been  brought  together 
by  Miss  Jessie  B.  Rittenhouse,  Professor  Lounsbury,  and  Edmund 
Gosse.  Comprehensive  in  its  riches  is  the  "Home  Book  of  Verse" 
edited  by  Professor  Burton  E.  Stevenson.  In  his  pages  are  well 
chosen  examples  of  Shakespeare  and  Milton,  Wordsworth  and 
Tennyson.  There,  too,  are  representative  pages  from  Dryden, 
Pope,  Cowper  and  other  singers  who  might  otherwise  be  mere 
names  to  us.  And  here  are  lyrics  by  Sir  Phillip  Sidney,  Andrew 
Marvell,  James  Shirley,  Blanco  White,  Henry  David  Thoreau,  and 
many  another  chorister  who  rose  into  the  upper  sky  but  once  or 
twice  in  a  life-time.  From  such  an  ante-room  he  may  pass  at 
will  to  the  full  round  of  any  poet  who  commands  our  personal 
allegiance,  Keats  or  Poe,  Browning  or  Emerson,  let  us  say. 

And  now  we  may  pass  from  poetry  to  a  widely  different 
sphere,  that  of  earning  our  daily  bread.  Wide  and  varied  indeed 
*<^  the  l''tpr?»tiire  of  the  livelihoods.  When  a  definite  trade  or  pro- 
fession is  being  prepared  for,  and  is  duly  entered  upon,  its  books 
must  be  wisely  laid  under  contribution.     Here  one's  choice  is  of 


moment  as  never  before,  so  that  there  should  be  an  access  of  care 
in  seeking  advisers.  An  alumnus  of  this  School  is  to  plan  chemical 
works  as  their  engineer.  Another  has  adopted  the  metallurgy  of 
copper  as  his  life-work.  Agriculture  has  attracted  a  third  pupil 
of  Hackley  School,  and  a  fourth  is  now  an  expert  in  fuel  economy. 
Their  widely  different  books  will  be  assembled  in  the  light  of 
counsel  from  their  teachers,  with  many  a  recent  title  worth  heed- 
ing from  men  in  successful  practice.  And  they  will  listen  with 
both  ears  to  what  is  said  by  the  men  just  a  step  or  two  ahead  of 
them,  who  stand  nearest  to  them,  and  within  arm's  reach.  A 
guide  ceases  to  be  of  any  use  when  he  strides  so  far  ahead  as  to 
be  hidden  by  the  curvature  of  the  earth.  Helpful  books  are  sup- 
plemented by  periodicals  of  like  quality.  Electrical  engineers 
broaden  and  revise  their  information  by  the  weekly  advent  of 
"The  Electrical  World."  With  equal  gain  iron-smelters  and  steel- 
workers  turn  the  leaves  of  'The  Iron  Age,'*  to  keep  abreast  of  the 
advances  there  set  forth.  All  such  journals  review  the  current 
books  in  their  special  provinces,  engaging  competent  and  trust- 
worthy critics  for  the  task. 

Reviews  of  this  stamp  form  a  golden  resource  in  a  great 
technical  library,  such  as  that  of  the  Engineering  Societies  at  29 
West  39th  Street,  New  York.  Here  the  librarian,  Mr.  W.  P. 
Cutter,  renders  aid  to  engineers  not  only  in  America,  but  through- 
out the  world.  For  a  small  fee  he  furnishes  copies  of  chapters, 
articles,  reports,  plans  and  illustrations,  in  any  requested  depart- 
ment, as  they  appear.  A  huge  camera  turns  out  these  copies  in 
fac  simile.  Think  what  it  means  to  a  copper  smelter  in  Arizona, 
a  nickel  miner  in  Northern  Ontario,  to  have  Mr.  Cutter  in  a  watch 
tower  for  his  behoof.  And  aid  just  as  important  is  springing  up 
in  another  quarter.  Among  the  leaders  in  American  engineering 
are  Stone  &  Webster  of  Boston,  who  build  and  operate  water- 
works, power-plants,  and  the  like.  This  corporation  has  a  large, 
carefully  chosen  library  for  its  staff,  with  Mr.  G.  W.  Lee  as 
librarian.  He  is  organizing  "sponsors''  to  keep  watch  and  ward 
regarding  specific  subjects,  reinforced  concrete,  the  uses  of  electric 
heat  in  metallurgy,  and  so  on.  These  sponsors  are  to  render  ser- 
vice as  counsellors  to  librarians,  or  in  giving  information  to  in- 
dividual inquirers. 

In  a  field  remote  from  engineering,  that  of  American  history, 
the  student  has  more  rest  and  quiet  than  if  his  desk  were  m 


Thirty-ninth  Street.  As  Daniel  Webster  said,  ''the  past  at  least 
is  secure,"  and  the  yearly  additions  to  our  annals  seldom  modify 
our  established  traditions  and  our  long  accepted  story  of  the  birth 
and  growth,  and  the  rebirth,  of  our  Union.  Here,  then,  is  a  tract 
where  the  pilots  are  not  liable  to  the  supersedure  constantly  im- 
minent in  every  zone  of  applied  science.  In  1902  the  American 
Library  Association,  at  my  instance,  issued  "The  Literature  of 
American  History,"  edited  by  the  late  Mr.  J.  N.  Larned  of  Buffalo. 
Its  4100  titles  were  brought  together  by  forty  scholars,  each  a 
sound  judge  in  his  field,  who  gave  every  chosen  book  a  brief  note. 
The  more  important  departments,  those  of  colonial  times  and  the 
Civil  War,  for  example,  are  introduced  by  a  page  or  two  of  gen- 
eral and  most  helpful  survey.  This  guide  closes  with  three  lists : 
the  first,  very  brief,  is  suitable  for  a  school  library;  the  second  is 
somewhat  longer;  the  third  is  still  fuller,  comprising  about  five 
hundred  volumes,  worthy  to  form  a  good  working  library.  It 
was  my  hope  that  supplements  might  continue  this  work  year  by 
year.  But  the  cost  and  toil  of  preparation  forbade  more  than  two 
issues.  Let  us  expect  that  in  due  time  the  American  Library 
Association  will  republish  Mr.  Larned's  manual,  brought  down  to 
date,  to  be  followed  by  annual  supplements  of  like  range  and  merit. 
Then,  with  lessons  of  experience  in  mind,  other  fields  of  literature 
may  be  attacked,  so  that  with  the  least  possible  delay  the  best 
available  judgments  on  worth-while  books  may  be  placed  at  the 
service  of  every  reader  and  student  in  America.  If  so  bold  a  pro- 
gram gives  us  pause,  minor  departments  of  books  may  be  adjudged 
as  opportunities  arise.  Early  in  1916  Professor  Clarence  B.  Thomp- 
son of  Harvard  University,  at  my  request,  gave  the  American 
Library  Association  a  short  list  of  works  on  Scientific  Manage- 
ment, with  luminous  notes.  That  list  but  adds  to  the  homage  paid 
by  engineers  the  world  over  to  the  memory  of  the  late  Frederick 
Winslow  Taylor.  The  authors  convened  by  Professor  Thompson 
are  first  and  chiefly  Mr.  Taylor,  and  then  his  disciples. 

Insofar  as  we  are  disciples  of  Mr.  Taylor  we  will  cultivate 
efficiency  in  reading  as  in  all  else  that  we  do.  But  let  us  remember 
that  Mr.  Taylor,  one  of  the  wisest  men  who  ever  lived,  added  to 
the  output  of  his  workmen  by  giving  them  rest-periods  ever  and 
anon.  I  dare  say  that  here  he  took  a  leaf  out  of  school  practice, 
and  borrowed  the  ''recesses"  so  popular  at  Tarrytown.  It  is  well 
to  be  systematic  in  our  choice  and  use  of  books.     It  is  also  well 


to  leave  the  highways  of  letters  from  time  to  time,  and  wander  at 
will  in  their  by-paths,  seeking  rest  and  refreshment.  Before 
the  present  war  your  veteran  traveler  saw  Edinburgh,  or  Florence, 
or  Granada,  so  far  as  his  guide-book  instructed  him.  Then  he 
closed  his  Murray  and  took  a  stroll  along  roads  and  lanes  un- 
mapped and  alluring.  Thus  he  came  upon  a  forsaken  shrine,  or 
a  workshop  of  mosaic,  or  he  found  a  moss-grown  sepulchre,  not 
set  down  in  his  itinerary.  Habitual  readers  have  days  when  they 
shut  their  desks  and  haunt  book  stores,  all  the  way  from  Mr. 
Putnam's  sumptuous  premises  to  the  dingy  dens  of  lower  Fourth 
Avenue  and  Vesey  Street.  It  was  in  Leary's  famous  bookery  in 
Philadelphia  that  I  first  came  upon  Hudson's  "Naturalist  on  the 
La  Plata,"  the  best  book  of  its  kind  known  to  me.  In  the  unlike- 
liest  corners  of  New  York  and  London,  Paris  and  Madrid,  I  have 
found  song-books  and  old  plays  worth  their  weight  in  platinum. 
One  whole  winter  I  sought  in  vain  a  picture  of  a  smoke-jack 
turning  a  joint  before  a  fire.  Next  May  I  went  to  Boston  and, 
of  course,  to  Cornhill,  where  my  quest  came  to  an  end  in  a  mag- 
azine grimy  with  years  of  neglect.  Many  another  find  awaits  a 
pilgrim  in  the  sixties  as  he  trudges,  heedless  of  bumps,  through 
Ann  Street  and  Fulton  Street.  There  on  a  ten-cent  tray  is  the 
very  edition  of  Scott  that  he  read  as  a  boy,  with  its  notes  at  the 
end  of  each  volume.  Besides:  it  is  the  original  form  of  Holmes' 
"Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast  Table,"  with  its  portraits  of  "the  poor 
relation"  and  "the  young  man  called  John,"  never  reproduced. 
And  thus  the  Indian  summer  of  life  has  joys  all  its  own  as  one 
rereads  old  favorites  and  compares  impressions  fifty  years  apart. 
Thrice  happy  is  he  who  early  in  life  chooses  a  worthy  theme 
which  he  can  pursue  in  highways  and  byways  as  long  as  he  lives. 
It  may  be  the  life  of  a  national  hero,  as  Lincoln ;  of  a  great  invent- 
or, as  Edison ;  or  it  may  be  the  story  of  his  native  town,  Gibraltar, 
Boston,  or  Plymouth-of  the-pilgrimage.  Or  he  may  be  drawn  to 
the  unfolding  panorama  of  photography  in  education,  the  advances 
in  wireless  telegraphy  and  telephony.  Or,  if  he  be  modest,  he 
may  content  himself  with  a  study  of  that  wonderful  instrument, 
the  gyroscope,  which  supplants  the  mariner's  compass,  and  anon 
steadies  a  ship  or  an  aeroplane  in  storm  and  tempest.  As  he 
diligently  adds  to  his  notes,  clippings  and  books;  as  these  are 
digested  by  faithful  observation  or  experiment,  he  gradually  rises 
to  the  judicial  bench  which  so  well  served  him  in  earlier  days. 


His  delight  now  is,  as  well  as  he  can,  to  hand  the  torch  of  knowl- 
edge to  beginners  who  stand  to-day  where  he  stood  forty  or  fifty 
years  ago. 

Whether  we  read  as  a  duty,  or  for  simple  enjoyment,  our 
choice  will  turn  upon  the  careers  before  us,  and  upon  the  make 
of  our  individual  minds.  Students  who  take  up  law  as  their  pro- 
fession will  read  in  alcoves  far  removed  from  those  of  Water 
Supply,  or  Yellow  Fever  Prophylaxis.  In  our  scant  leisure  most 
of  us  would  not  be  refreshed,  but  bored,  by  Montaigne,  Browning, 
or  George  Meredith.  Yet  there  are  men  and  women  who  esteem 
these  authors  so  highly  that  they  commit  their  pages  to  memory,  to 
enjoy  their  daily  companionship.  With  wide  diversities  of  human 
toil,  of  personal  aptitudes  and  inabilities,  are  there  any  general 
rules  worth  offering  you  this  morning? 

Yes.  But  please  consider  them  as  open  to  amendment  every 
day  that  you  live  and  grow  wiser.  First  of  all  it  is  well  to  know 
the  supremely  great  books  upon  which  trustworthy  critics,  gener- 
ation after  generation,  have. set  their  seals  of  approval.  Beyond 
that  small  nucleus,  sketched  in  a  list  I  have  brought  to  you  today, 
stretch  the  thousands  of  books  among  which  you  must  choose  as 
carefully  as  you  can.  In  literature  it  is  safe  to  begin  with  only  the 
famous  books,  preferring  those  which  have  come  of  age,  whose 
pages  command  reperusal  for  years  after  they  left  their 
authors'  desks.  Many  new  books,  treating  themes  of  the  day,  or 
otherwise  working  a  popular  vein  of  sentiment  or  satire,  are  every 
year  heralded  with  superlative  praise.  This  praise  does  not  im- 
pose upon  veterans  of  the  market-place.  They  know  that  it  is 
too  warm  and  too  expensive  to  last  long.  A  twelve-month  hence 
the  claque  will  be  blistering  its  palms  before  some  new  eclipser 
of  Tennyson  and  Lowell,  Hawthorne  and  Holmes. 

In  science,  let  us  read  the  latest  books  by  competent  men  who 
have  a  first-hand  familiarity  with  their  themes.  Fortunately,  in 
our  leading  schools  of  medicine  and  chemistry,  physics  and  en- 
gineering, the  teachers  year  by  year  embody  their  instruction  in 
manuals  of  authority,  masterly  in  exposition.  Out-of-date  studies 
of  the  carbon  compounds,  or  of  electrical  transmission,  are  worth- 
less except  to  the  small  class  of  historians  who  trace  the  develop- 
ment of  a  science  step  by  step.  An  epoch-making  work,  such  as 
Darwin's  "Origin  of  Species,"  should  be  read  from  cover  to  cover 
in  preference  to  any  book  derived  or  abridged  from  its  pages. 


There  is  always  much  gold  in  the  wallet  of  such  an  explorer  as 
Darwin  which  slips  through  the  clumsy  fingers  of  compilers  and 
commentators. 

It  is  well  from  time  to  time  to  draw  up  a  short  list  of  books  to 
be  read,  always  in  the  light  of  the  best  counsel  to  be  had.  When 
such  a  list  is  adhered  to,  it  will  bring  its  possessor  the  joy  of  accom- 
plishment every  year  that  he  lives.  During  a  twelve-month  he 
will  survey,  let  us  suppose,  electrical  progress  in  practice  and 
theory.  Or,  he  may  read  the  life  and  writings  of  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin, and  understand  the  causes  which  led  to  the  Revolution  and  to 
the  foundation  of  this  Republic.  There  is  an  impassable  gulf 
between  systematic  reading  of  this  kind,  and  desultory  glancing 
at  pages  of  all  sorts.  A  hasty  perusal  of  newspapers,  a  few  min- 
utes now  and  then  over  a  magazine,  a  taking  up  of  the  shallow, 
ephemeral  books  forced  upon  one^s  notice  day  by  day,  builds  no 
real  knowledge,  trains  no  genuine  power  of  analysis  or  judgment. 
But  a  reader  who  steadily  sticks  to  James  Russell  Lowell,  let  us 
say,  through  the  evenings  of  a  winter,  has  become  intimate  with 
a  great  wit,  a  convincing  critic,  and  a  true  poet.  Henceforth 
Lowell  will  stand  among  his  friends  and  helpers.  A  handsome 
recompense  this  for  firm  adhesion  to  a  simple  and  alluring  pur- 
pose. Readers  of  this  consecutive  type  are  virtually  explorers, 
although  they  do  not  suspect  it,  and  they  receive  the  explorer's 
reward.  Stanley  began  every  morning  where  he  left  off  last 
night;  he  explored  Central  Africa.  The  postman  begins  today 
where  he  began  yesterday — and  renews  acquaintance  with  Tomp- 
kins Square. 

As  the  world  grows  older,  as  men  and  women  learn  more, 
the  higher  is  heaped  our  wealth  in  printed  pages.  After  we  have 
chosen  our  books,  how  shall  we  read  them  with  most  profit?  It 
is  old  and  wise  counsel  that  bids  us  read  pencil  in  hand.  When  we 
meet  with  a  term  we  do  not  understand,  "habeas  corpus,"  for 
instance,  let  us  ascertain  its  meaning.  How  many  of  us  knov* 
where  the  cave  of  Adullam  was,  or  how  the  stars  and  stripes  came 
into  our  national  flag?  To  answer  such  queries  we  should  have  at 
hand  a  few  sterling  works  of  reference.  First,  an  English  dic- 
tionary, full  enough  to  comprise  foreign  phrases  in  common  use. 
Second,  a  gazeteer,  with  large,  clear  maps.  Third,  a  classical 
dictionary.  Next,  the  latest  edition  of  Bartlett's  Quotations,  with 
concordances  to  the  Bible  and  Shakespeare.  Many  a  question  sends 


us  to  a  foreign  dictionary,  an  encyclopedia,  or  to  "Who's  Who  in 
America."  These  should  be  faithfully  consulted.  In  the  course 
of  years  this  habit  of  reference  affords  an  amazing  total  of  in- 
formation, every  item  of  it  joined  to  a  theme  of  vital  interest. 
And  interest,  after  all,  is  the  main  impulse  and  promise  as  we 
choose  our  books. 

Fiction. 

Blackmore,  R.  D.     Loma  Doone. 

Bolderwood,  Rolf.     Robbery  Under  Arms. 

Bunyan,  John.     Pilgrim's  Progress. 

Cable,  George  W.     Doctor  Sevier. 

Clemens,  S.  L.     Prince  and  Pauper.    Tom  Sawyer.    Huckleberry 

Finn. 
Cooper,  J.  F.     Deerslayer.     Last  of  the  Mohicans.     Pathfinder. 

Pioneers. 
Craik,  Mrs.  Dinah  Maria.     John  Halifax,  Gentleman. 
Crawford,  F.  Marion.     Mr.  Isaacs.    Tale  of  a  Lonely  Parish.    A 

Roman  Singer. 
Defoe,  Daniel.     Robinson  Crusoe. 
Dana,  Richard  H.     Two  Years  Before  the  Mast. 
Deming,  Philander.     Adirondack  Stories, 
Dickens,  Charles.     David  Copperfield. 
Eggleston,  Edward.     Hoosier  Schoolmaster. 
Eliot,  George.     Silas  Mamer. 
Goldsmith,  Oliver.     Vicar  of  Wakefield. 
Harris,  Joel  Chandler.     Uncle  Remus  and  His  Friends. 
Harte,  Bret.     Luck  of  Roaring  Camp. 
Hope,  Anthony.     Prisoner  of  Zenda. 
Hawthorne,  Nathaniel.     Hoiise  of  the  Seven  Gables. 
Holmes,  O.  W.     Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast  Table. 
Howells,  W.  D.     Silas  Lapham.    Hazard  of  New  Fortunes. 
Irving,  Washington.     Sketchbook.    Bracebridge  Hall.     Wolf  erf  s 

Roost. 
Kipling,  Rudyard.     Kim. 

Melville,  Herman.     Typee.    Omoo.    Moby  Dick. 
Poe,  Edgar  Allan.     Tales. 

Russell,  William  Clark.     Wreck  of  the  Grosvenor. 
Scott,  Michael.     Tom  Cringle's  Log. 


Scott,  Walter.     Quentin  Durward.     Ivanhoe.     Heart  of  Midlo- 
thian. 
Stevenson,  R.  L.     Treasure  Island.    Kidnapped. 
Stockton,  F.  R.     The  Lady  or  the  Tiger  and  other  tales. 
Stowe,  Harriet  Beecher.     Uncle  Tom's  Cabin. 
Thackeray,  W.  M.    Esmond. 
Wallace,  Lewis.    Ben  Hur. 

Biography. 

Boswell,  James.    Samuel  Johnson. 

Hay,  John,  and  Nicolay,  John  G.    Abraham  Lincoln  (in  one  vol- 
ume). 
Franklin,  Benjamin.     Autobiography,  edited  by  John  Bigelow. 
Lockhart,  J.  G.     Walter  Scott. 
Miller,  Hugh.     My  Schools  and  Schoolmasters. 

Travel. 

Darwin,  Charles.     Journal  of  Researches  on  ''The  Beagle.*' 
Hudson,  W.  H.     Idle  Days  In  Patagonia.    The  Naturalist  on  the 
La  Plata. 


Essays. 


Bacon,  Sir  Francis. 
Emerson,  R.  W. 
Lamb,  Charles. 
Lowell,  James  Russell. 
Macaulay,  Thomas  B. 


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THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CAUFORNIA  UBRARY 


